Discovery Moves European Networks to the Netherlands

Reported via Deadline, as a result of the impending Brexit, the United Kindom has lost one of it’s very own famous channel networks– the Discovery Channel. The international giant has recently been rumored to have applied for broadcast licenses in the Netherlands to avoid the ramifications of the UK’s vote to exit from the European Union.

TV channels that are broadcasted across different countries apart of the European Union, require a license in an those very same countries to continue their services. After Brexit, the British government will have to factor in how this major decision will effect its future broadcast investments.

As of now, Discovery currently operates its European channels such as Eurosport and Animal Planet, out of its London base and long before cautioned against Brexit’s repercussions by working with the Commercial Broadcasters Association in drawing up a white paper on the issue.

A spokeswoman for said, “Given Brexit, Discovery is now applying for new broadcast licenses in the Netherlands for its EU pay-TV channel portfolio. Discovery is retaining a large hub in the UK and has renewed on a long-term, the lease for its main London office in West London, which houses more than 1,000 people. The company is retaining its Ofcom licenses for its 16 channels in the UK and holds significant investments in the market, including stakes in UKTV, All3 Media and Play Sports Group.”

John Hendricks originally founded the channel and its parent company, Cable Educational Network Inc., in 1982 when a variety of investors (the BBC, Allen & Company and Venture America) raised $5 million in start-up capital to launch the network.The Discovery Channel began broadcasting by June of 1985 and was available to over 156,000 households in America, where about 75 percent of its unique programming content had never been broadcast on U.S. television before.

Today, plenty of other international broadcasters similarly have invested more than £1B (US$1.3B) a year in the United Kingdom in the broadcasting industry, making the UK Europe’s leading international broadcasting center, with about 650 international channels.